Apparatus and method for producing twisted wire products



Feb. 27, 1968 3,370,622

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING TWISTED WIRE PRODUCTS T. MARKS r 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 19, 1965 H 2 N 5 mm m BY 522 z ATTORNEYS T. MARKS Feb. 27, 1968 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING TWISTED WIRE PRODUCTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 19, 1965 INVENTOR Zs Eaaazs- Mae s BY 2 ,ZW

ATTORNEYS Feb. 27, 1968 T. MARKS 3,370,622

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING TWISTED WIRE PRODUCTS Filed 001:. 1.9, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 N v ENTO R 77/500025 4/44 /(5 W i Mafia ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,370,622 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING TWISTED WIRE PRODUCTS Theodore Marks, Hartsdale, N.Y., assignor to American Technical Machinery Corp., Mount Vernon, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Filed Oct. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 497,960 6 Claims. (Cl. 140-449) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus and method are provided for producing a twisted wire product wherein a pair of Wires is guided to a twisting station comprising a pair of rotatably mounted wheels supported so that the periphery of one is adjacent to the periphery of the other, the axis of rotation of one wheel being disposed at an angle to the other such that their relative positions correspond substantially to the desired helical pitch of the wires. The wires which may contain bristles therebetween are fed between the periphery of the wheels, with one wire engaging a peripheral portion of one wheel and the other wire engaging a peripheral portion of the other. The wires are continuously passed between the wheels whereby to continuously impart a twist to said wires.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing twisted wire products, such as twisted wire brushes and the like products.

It is known to produce twisted wire brush products by depositing bristles between adjacent strands of wire and then twisting the strands about each other to lock the bristles in place. In order to effect twisting, the strands with the bristles therebetween are supported via means to provide a reacting force to oppose the applied twisting force. One such type of means comprisesa pair of stationary opposed feed jaws which are adapted via opposed grooves or wire-guide channels in the jaws to receive and pass the wires therethrough. As a pair of adjacently arranged wires approach the feed jaws, bristles are deposited between them and as the wires with the bristles pass through the spaced jaws with each wire riding a groove or channel, a twisting force is applied to the emerging wires to lock the bristles therebetween, the twistreacting force being set up at the jaws.

In bringing the wires with the supported bristles to the jaws, care must be exercised to prevent the bristles from becoming dislodged as they enter the jaws just prior to twisting, otherwise clogging occurs. To minimize this as much as possible the jaws must be carefully machined and accurately dimensioned. Generally, such dies are expensive and their maintenance and replacement costs are high.

An apparatus and method have been proposed for continuously producing twisted wire products; an example of such apparatus and method being disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,160,440. Here the method comprises depositing bristles between a pair of wires and imparting twist to the wires by applying a force couple to the bristles themselves.

It would be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for continuously producing twisted wire products using a simpler arrangement of mechanical elements and in which the twisting force is continuously applied directly to the wires themselves.

It is thus an object of my invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for making twisted wire products, for example, twisted wire brushes, branches for artificial Christmas trees and the like, twisted ornamental products, or any flexible elongated product in which twisted wires make up an important element of the finished product.

Another object is to provide an apparatus characterized by an improved twisting device, by means of which, a twist can be applied to a pair of wires by continuously applying a twisting force to the wires themselves.

These and other objects will more clearly appear when taken in conjunction with the following description and the appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows in perspective the basic elements making up one embodiment of the twisting station with the housing omitted in order to show more clearly the feeding of the wires between a set of peripherally grooved wheels;

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate one embodiment of a bristle and wire feeding assembly;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 depicts a side view of the wires alone with a twist imparted to them after passing between the two wheels of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIGS. 4 to 7 show as one embodiment a detail rendition of the housing supporting one of the grooved wheels, only one being shown since the housing of the other wheel is substantially a duplicate of the first wheel;

FIG. 8 is a still further embodiment provided by the invention;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are illustrative of means for deflecting bristles held by twisted Wires; and

FIG. 11 depicts a rotatable paddle means of the type shown in FIG. 8.

In its broad aspects, the apparatus of my invention comprises means for feeding a pair of wires to a twisting station comprising a pair of peripherally grooved rotatably mounted wheels mounted on each side of the moving wires and between which the wires are fed such that one wire engages a peripheral portion of one wheel and the other wire engages a peripheral portion of the other wheel, the axis of rotation of one wheel being disposed at an angle to the other, such that their relative positions correspond to a desired helical pitch of the wire product.

In carrying the invention into practice in the production of twisted wire brushes, the method comprises feeding a pair of wires with bristles deposited therebetween to a twisting station, the wires having imparted to them a twist. The bristle-laden wires with the twist are then passed between a pair of peripherally grooved rotatably mounted wheels comprising the twisting station, with one wire engaged by the groove of one wheel and the other wire engaged by the groove of the other wheel, the axis of rotation of one of the wheels being at an angle to the other such that their relative positions correspond substantially to the desired helical pitch of the wire product. The wires are,then continuously fed between the wheels and a twist imparted along the length of the wires.

One embodiment for carrying out the invention is shown in FIG. 1 which depicts in perspective a twisting station comprising a pair of rotatably mounted peripherally grooved wheels 10, 11, disposed on each side of longitudinal path X along which wires 12, 13 are fed, said grooved wheels being disposed one opposite t e other along their common diametral axis YY, said wires being drawn off wire spools (not shown) and delivered to a bristle and wire feeding assembly indicated generally by the numeral 14 and shown in more detail in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The assembly functions as a twist reacting means, as well as a guide and support means for guiding the wires to the longitudinal path.

Although a grooved wheel is shown as the preferred configuration the only requirement imposed on the wheel is that it engage the wire sufiiciently to impart a twist to the wire. Thus, any wheel configuration which performs this function is encompassed by the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the bristle and wire feeding assembly is shown comprising idler pulley 15 and 15a about tles into the compartments; guide means 16c being also provided to confine the bristles in the compartments during delivery to and between wires 12 and 13. Wire 13 similarly is drawn around idler pulley 15a and from there onto the periphery of feeder Wheel 17 such that the two Wires emerge from the assembly with bristles 18 held therebetween.

Other means for delivering and depositing bristles may be employed, for example, such as is disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,160,440.

Grooved wheels 10, 11 at the twisting station are rotatably mounted via stub shafts 10a, 11a (note FIGS. 4. and the axis of one shaft being disposed at an angle to the other such that their relative positions correspond approximately to the helical pitch of the twisted wire product. Thus, referring to the plan view of FIG. 2, grooved wheel 11 is shown at an angle A to the axis X of the longitudinal path, wheel being at a similar angle. Wheel 11 is angled to the approximate helical pitch of one of the wires, while wheel 10 is angled to the approximate helical pitch of the cross-over wire completing the twist.

In starting the twisting action, the wires drawn off the spools and brought to the path of feed are given an initial or preliminary twist before being passed between grooved wheels 10, 11. Grooved Wheels 10, 11 may be power driven or mounted as idler wheels. In the latter instance, the Wires could be pushed by wire feed rollers, or pulled by a carriage mounted chuck mechanism, between the wheels which would rotate as a result of contacting the wires and impart a twist to them. As the wires with the bristles supported therebetween pass between the grooved wheels, the bristles take on a helical distribution and, importantly, move by the faces of the wheels like a rotating screw without substantially being obstructed or damaged by the wheels themselves, since the wheels are oriented in the direction of the helical pitch.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, grooved wheel 10 is shown housed Within a yoke 20 comprising fork legs 21, 22 which extend from a block portion 23. Wheel 19 is mounted between legs 21, 22 with stub shafts 10a rotatably mounted in movable shaft supports 24 which are in turn slidably mounted in slots 25 in each of the legs, biasing means being provided in the form of springs 26 for spring loading the wheel shafts such that the groove of the wheel is constantly maintained against the wire cradled in the groove. Driving means are provided comprising pinion 27 mounted on a shaft 28 driven by conventional means not shown, the pinion 27 being adapted to drive pinion 29 which is mounted on a rotatable shaft 30 which passes through overhanging block portion 23 and has mounted on its protruding end a bevelled gear 31 which meshes with another bevelled gear 32 mounted on stub shaft 10a of grooved wheel 10.

Wheel 11 has a similar housing with the same elements, except that the housing is inverted in position and disposed below wheel 10 and its housing assembly, both housings being adjusted in position relative to each other to correspond substantially to the pitch of the helical twisted wires. Thus, in effect, grooved wheels 10, 11 become drive rollers which engage and feed by pulling the bristle-laden wiresbetween them.

I find it advantageous to provide additional wire guide means between the grooved wheels as extensions of legs 21 and 22, the face of the wire guides which contact the wire being provided with a partial spiral configuration to enable the wires to traverse the guide much as a screw turns within a threaded hole. Referring to FIGS. 4 to 7,

wire guide extensions 35, 36 are shown grooved at their terminal end portions 35a, 36a for contacting wire strand 12. As stated hereinbefore, the housing for wheel 11 will have similar elements for cooperating with wire 13, including wire guide elements 35, 36. The side view of wire guides 35, 36 is shown in FIG. 4, while a close-up front view is shown in FIG. 7.

If desired, the wheels 10, 11 may be formed with flange extensions beyond the rises of the peripheral edge to perform the guiding function. The extensions would be formed integrally with the wheel or be mechanically attached to the wheel, and would be used in lieu of the el.- ments 35, 36.

Referring to FIG. 6, the disposition of wire guides 35, 36 is shown by a cross-section taken through line 6 -6 of FIG. 5. As will be observed, the faces of the wire guides in contact with the wire are oriented in accordance with the helical configuration of the wire so as toallow the wire to turn much as a screw turns in passing through a threaded hole. An important advantage of the wire guides is that they divert the bristles supported between the wires from going under the grooved wheels. The guides are made long enough, that is to extend beyond or below the grooved wheel so as to confine the wire and keep it from jumping out of the groove of the wheel and from slipping out from between the pair of grooved wheels 10, 11.

As stated hereinbefore, grooved wheels 10 and 11 need not be driven but may be rotatably mounted as idler wheels. Pro-twisting means 40 (FIG. 8) may be employed of the type 40a shown in FIG. 11 comprising a hollow cylinder with paddles 41 extending radially inwardly from the internal wall of the cylinder. Such a twisting device is shown in US. Patent No. 3,160,440.

Referring again to FIG. 8, the twisting means has mounted coaxially about its periphery an annular gear 42 in driving relationship with driving gear 43 shownfragmentarily. Twisting means 40 is rotated at a predetermined speed to apply some twist to the wires with bristles supported therebetween as the wires pass through cylinder 40. The paddles within the cylinder apply a force couple to the bristles, thus causing the wires to twist about each other and lock the bristles between them. The twisted wire emerging from the cylinder is then urged between idler wheels 10 and 11 with wires 12, 13 riding the respective grooves of the angled wheels such that the wheels are caused to rotate as additional twist is applied to the wires by virtue of the orientation of the wheels. As will be noted, the brush bristles have been omitted from the emerging wires for purposes of clarity.

As stated hereinbefore, as wires ride the grooves, the bristles supported therebetween rotate in a helical path 7 and brush against the side surface of the wheels. I prefer,

however, to use bristle deflecting means located forwardly of the entrance to the wheels. The deflectors are partially helically configurated so that the bristles riding against them are deflected away from the wheels.

The bristle deflectors may extend from and forwardly of legs-21 and 22 of wheel yoke 20 past the entrance portion of wheels 10 and 11. Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, bristle deflectors 44, 45 are shown connected via webs 46, 47 to the yoke (not shown), the webs being indicated fragmentarily in FIG. 10. As will be noted, wires 12 and 13 partially twisted are positioned in corresponding relation to the deflectors, the bristles being omitted. As the wires are twisted and pass between the wheels (FIG. 8), the bristles brush against deflectors 44, 45 and are deflected away from wheels 10 and 11.

As will be appreciated multiple sets of drive wheels or rollers can be employed in carrying out the invention.

While the foregoing description sets forth the principles of the invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation of the scope of the invention as set forth in the objects thereof and in the accompanying claims, in which the word twisted wire product is meant to cover any product in which twisted wire strands make up one element of the product, in which the word brush is defined to mean any brushlike article or structure, the word bristle to mean any relatively short transverse member, however soft, the word wire to mean any relatively long twistable member, however rigid, and the words brush body to mean a plurality of wires having bristles spaced thereinbetween, whether twisted or untwisted. Moreover, it is to be understood that the screws of the elements comprising the apparatus shown in the drawing are not representative of their relative dimensions. For example, the bristle and wire feeding assembly of FIG. 1A would generally be larger than the elements making up the twisting station.

While the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modilications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the invention and appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method for producing a twisted wire product which comprises, guiding a pair of wires with bristles therebetween to a twisting station, said wires having imparted thereto a twist, causing said wires with the twist to pass between a pair of rotatably mounted wheels at said twisting station with one wire of the twist engaging a peripheral portion of one wheel and the other wire of the twist engaging a peripheral portion of the other wheel, said wheels being disposed one opposite the other along a common diametral axis, the axis of rotation of one of the wheels being at an angle to the other such that their relative positions correspond substantially to a desired helical pitch, laterally guiding said wires while passing between said wheels, and continuing the feeding of said wires between the wheels to continuously impart a further twist to said wires and lock the bristles therebetween.

2. A method for producing a twisted wire product which comprises, depositing bristles between a pair of supported wires, guiding said pair of wires with bristles therebetween to a twisting station, said wires having imparted thereto a twist for holding the bristles in place, causing said wires with the twist to pass between a pair of rotatably mounted peripherally grooved wheels at said twisting station with one wire of the twist engaging the groove of one wheel and the other wire of the twist engaging the groove of the other wheel, said wheels being disposed one opposite the other along a common diametral axis, the axis of rotation of one of the wheels being at an angle to the other such that their relative positions correspond substantially to a desired helical pitch, and rotating said wheels whereby to feed said wires between the grooved wheels and continuously impart a further twist to said wires.

3. An apparatus for producing a twisted wire product which comprises, means for depositing bristles between a pair of wires, means for guiding said wires to a twisting station said wires with the bristles having a twist to support the bristles therebetween, and a twisting station disposed in the path of said wires comprising a pair of rotatably mounted peripherally grooved wheels between which said wires are fed such that one wire engages the groove of one wheel and the other wire engages the groove of the other wheel, said wheels being disposed one opposite the other along a common diametral axis, the aXis of rotation of one wheel being disposed at an angle to the other such that their relative positions correspond substantially to a desired helical pitch of the wires.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein means for defleeting the bristles supported between the wires is provided in cooperable association with said twisting station, said deflecting means being located between said wheels.

5. An apparatus for producing a twisted wire product which comprises, means for depositing bristles between a pair of wires, means for guiding said wires to a twisting station, said wires with the bristles having a twist to support the bristles therebetween, a twisting station disposed in said path comprising a pair of rotatably mounted peripherally grooved wheels between which said wires are fed such that one wire engages the groove of one wheel and the other wire engages the groove of the other wheel, said wheels being disposed one opposite the other along a common diametral axis, the axis of rotation of one wheel being disposed at an angle to the other such that their relative positions correspond substantially to a desired helical pitch of the wires, guide means associated with said twisting station for supporting said wires against lateral displacement as they pass between said wheels, and means associated with said wheels to rotate the same and feed said wires between the wheels.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein means for deflecting the bristles supported between said wires is provided in cooperable association with said twisting station, said deflecting means being located between said wheels.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,189,646 2/1940 Betzler -149 3,231,311 1/1966 Marks et al. 140149 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner. L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner. 

